Boeing’s Starliner capsule is ready to launch again.
During a flight readiness review on Wednesday (May 11th), NASA allowed Starliner to launch an orbital flight test-2 (OFT-2), a crucial unmanned mission to the International Space Station.
The decision keeps the Boeing spacecraft on launch path on May 19 at 18:54 EDT (2254 GMT) from the space launch complex 41 of the Cape Canaveral Space Forces station in coastal Florida – provided there are no meteorological or technical problems.
If the mission starts on time, the ISS will dock approximately one day later, on May 20. “It’s a birthday, so I’m really looking forward to a great birthday present here next week,” joked Steve Stitch, a NASA Crew Program Manager, docking in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday shortly after the review.
A backup launch date is available on May 20 at 6:32 PM EDT (2232 GMT), which will still see a birthday event if the timeline is shifted. Stitch added, however, that it is more important to set up Starliner to transport astronauts.
“The most important step right now is to fly this orbital flight test,” Stitch said.
in photos: The mission of the Boeing Starliner OFT-2 in photos
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft sits on top of its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on May 4, 2022 (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)
NASA officials have identified the completion of OFT-2 as crucial for launching more crew missions to the space station in the near future. The agency seeks to increase the number of astronauts aboard the ISS at once to increase the scientific potential of the orbital complex.
Mark Napie, vice president and program manager for the Boeing Commercial Crew program, said his company was “prepared and ready” to support NASA’s work; Currently, Starliner does not face major obstacles in its review elements to be ready to launch, dock and land.
“The Boeing team is ready and ready. The partnership between NASA and Boeing is really strong. It is a reflection of all the hard work that has been done,” Napie said during a conversation Wednesday.
The main task of Starliner will be to do what the capsule failed to do in the initial OFT mission in December 2019: to meet successfully with the ISS to demonstrate new technologies and in general to demonstrate the readiness of crews to and from space.
Many of these technologies are related to a sensor that will be active during the meeting with the ISS, said at a press conference Emily Nelson, Deputy Director General of NASA Flights.
“One of the most important – and really the coolest – sensors they have on their spacecraft is called VESTA; he’s looking for the silhouette of the space station, “she said.
VESTA, short for “Vision-based Electro-optical Sensor Tracking Assembly”, will be evaluated for its ability to identify the space station and jump to the correct (front) port of the Harmony module.
“We will do a few demonstrations as we get closer to where the spacecraft will stop,” Nelson said, stressing that the goal is to make sure the spacecraft stops when it is ordered to do so. Once this ability is established, “then we will join the last meeting and connection.”
Related: Construction of the International Space Station (photos)
This graph describes the lifting operations for NASA’s Boeing-2 orbital flight test (OFT-2). (Image credit: Boeing)
Starliner was originally set to launch OFT-2 in August 2021. But during normal pre-flight inspections, engineers found that 13 of the 24 oxidation valves in the capsule drive system located in the Starliner service module were blocked.
Diagnosing the problem required the removal of Starliner and its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the site. A few months later, researchers discovered the probable cause of the valve problem, which was a problem with chemistry. The oxidant of nitric tetroxide reacts with moisture in the air to form nitric acid. Nitric acid then reacts with aluminum around the valves, leading to corrosion products that create difficulties with valve function.
Correcting the valve problem requires a number of adjustments, including sealing a potential moisture problem point in the electrical connectors, cleaning the moisture with nitrogen gas, and adding a new routine to “cycle” every two to five days to keep the valves running smoothly. . Boeing has also replaced the Starliner service module to prepare for the upcoming flight.
Starliner and his Atlas V on their return from the launch site on July 30, 2021 (Image credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky)
Although each space flight program has its own unique problems and challenges, Stitch said the problem with Boeing’s valves led to a situation during the space shuttle program. During the launch of the STS-129 on November 14, 2008, flight controllers noticed an unusual increase in hydrogen flow in one of the main engines of the Endeavor shuttle.
Solving this flow control problem, as the problem was later called, took months; the problem was eventually traced to a cracked valve resulting from repeated use. The amendment was complex and is now designed as a case study in the Knowledge Office of NASA’s Academy of Program / Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL).
“We had to go out and do a whole bunch of tests, and then put in some new flow control valves to make sure we were safe to fly,” Stitch recalled of the shuttle situation. Similarly, looking at Starliner, he said the team spent eight or nine months investigating and dealing with the valve problem.
“This is exactly what we find in space flight. It’s a challenge all the time,” he said. “You find things about the vehicle that you may not have known. You go to examine them technically. You are performing the correct test. You put the right people and the right teams in place. You are going to solve the problem. And then when you’re ready and we are, we go flying. “
Katie Lueders, NASA’s head of human spaceflight, added that in 30 years of working for the agency, “every development has been difficult” in all five spacecraft she has participated with. “You just have to recognize it and get the job done,” she said, “and take the time to make sure you’re buying the risks and continuing to solve your problems and move on.”
OFT-2 is Starliner’s second attempt to conduct an unmanned test mission to the ISS. The first attempt in December 2019 had to be interrupted after Starliner suffered a number of software problems that prevented it from reaching the station.
Boeing, which has a contract with NASA to fly astronauts to and from the ISS with Starliner, must conduct a test flight without a crew to the station before the astronauts can board. The company hopes that the first flight of the capsule crew will take place by the end of 2022 (NASA said on Wednesday that it is still estimating how many astronauts will fly on this first crew flight and will decide after the completion of OFT-2 .)
“This is a really critical moment for us as we focus on this and prepare to fly again,” Lueders said. “We learned a lot from the initial flight of the demonstration and then prepared in the campaign for the experience last summer. But now the team is really working through everything they have learned so far and is ready to continue. “
SpaceX is the other company chosen by NASA to manage crew trade missions. SpaceX recently launched its fourth operational astronaut mission, called Crew-4, which includes a demonstration flight with a crew to the ISS, carrying out such missions since mid-2020.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and Facebook.
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